1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an accelerator apparatus for a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
An accelerator apparatus controls an operational state of a vehicle according to the amount of depression of an accelerator pedal, which is depressed by a foot of a driver of the vehicle. In such an accelerator apparatus, the accelerator pedal is rotatably supported by a support member and is depressed by the foot of the driver to rotate in a depressing direction about a rotational axis thereof. Furthermore, the accelerator pedal is urged by a coil spring in a releasing direction, which is opposite from the depressing direction. When the depressing force, which is applied from the foot of the driver to the accelerator pedal, is released, the accelerator pedal is returned to its initial position by the urging force of the spring.
The rotational angle of the accelerator pedal, which is rotated against the urging force of the spring upon application of the depressing force from the foot of the driver, is measured with a rotational angle sensor. A rotational angle signal, which indicates the rotational angle of the accelerator pedal, is outputted from a signal output device of the accelerator apparatus to an engine control unit (ECU) of the vehicle.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-182150A teaches an accelerator apparatus, which has a sensing device (serving as the rotational angle sensor) and a connector (serving as the signal output device). A holder member, in which the sensing device and the connector are integrally molded with resin, is fixed to a main body (serving as the support member) with screws. In the case of the holder member, in which the sensing device and the connector are integrally molded, the connector projects from the main body.
Thus, at the time of assembling the accelerator apparatus to the vehicle body, when the connector of the accelerator apparatus is fitted to a corresponding vehicle body side connector, an external force may be applied to the connector of the accelerator apparatus by an assembly worker. That is, the load may be applied to the connector. In order to limit inadvertent removal of the holder member, in which the sensing device and the connector are integrally molded, from the main body (serving as the support member), the screws are used to fix the holder member to the main body. However, the holder member and the main body are formed as the resin molded products, respectively. Thus, a contact surface of the holder member and a corresponding opposed contact surface of the main body do not completely contact with each other therethrough with high accuracy. When the screws are tightened further, distortion may occur in the holder member, in which the sensing device and the connector are integrally molded. When an excessively large stress is applied to the sensing device, the sensing device, i.e., the sensor may possibly be damaged.